Safety attachment for automatic printing presses



Aug. 5, 1958 R. J. BRAZIL 2,845,862

SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR AUTOMATIC PRINTING PRESSES Filed Feb. 20, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR ROBERT J. BRAZIL BY W ATTORNEY Aug. 5, 1958 SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR AUTOMATIC PRINTING PRESSES Filed Feb. 20, 1956 R. J. BRAZIL 2,845,862

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VENTOR ROBERT J. BRAZIL ATTORNEY United States Patent SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR AUTOMATIC PRINTING PRESSES Robert J. Brazil, Arlington, Va. Application February 20, 1956, Serial No. 566,423 6 Claims. (Cl. 101-284) This invention relates to safety devices for automatic printing presses and was especially designed for use in connection with a flat bed and cylinder type printing or cutting and creasing press. The invention was primarily designed as an attachment for the so-called Miller automatic press, of the general construction referred to in U. S. Patents No. 2,636,735, issued April 28, 1953, and No. 2,657,048, issued October 27, 1953.

In such a press, sheets are delivered along a feed board to the cylinder where they are taken by grippers on the cylinder, each sheet in turn being carried by the cylinder through one revolution thereof, during which it is pressed against the form on the bed. The sheet is then removed from the cylinder and delivered to a pile.

More particularly, the invention consists in new and useful improvements in an automatic safety attachment adapted to be mounted on a conventional part of the press mechanism which normally undergoes an oscillating 0r reciprocating motion during the operation of the press and is located in relatively close proximity to the conventional automatic trip pin of the press, the invention taking advantage of such motion and location, to automatically actuate said trip pin.

Those familiar with this type of printing press will understand that when starting to run, after the first sheet has been fed to the drop guides, the trip pin at the upper end of the vertical trip bar must be pushed in in order to make the press trip automatically when a sheet is misfed. With conventional machines of this type, the trip pin must be pushed in by hand, which requires that the operator be constantly mindful of this operation. Upon the failure of a sheet to reach the guides in the proper manner, the press automatically shuts off, whereupon the trip pin is pulled out manually until the condition is corrected. It is at this point, when the press is again set into operation, that the pushing in of the trip pin is of critical importance and, as previously stated, with conventional mechanisms this is entirely dependent upon the human element.

Obviously, if the operator neglects to push the trip pin in, the press is not conditioned to trip upon the failure or misfeeding of a sheet, which frequently results in considerable loss due to damage to the press, stock and plates.

It is, therefore, the primary object of this invention to provide an automatic safety device which completely removes the human element from the picture and as soon as the press is started, is actuated by a conventional moving part of the press to push in the trip pin.

Another object of the invention is to provide a safety attachment for printing presses of this type which may be readily applied to the conventional structure of the press without requiring any major alterations therein or interfering in any way with the normal operation of the mechanism.

A further object of the invention is to provide a safety attachment which is extremely simple in operation and involves a minimum of expense.

- With the above and other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the novel features herein set forth, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings in which numerals of like character designate similar parts throughout. the several views,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary view in side elevation, of one type of press on which my improved safety attachment is adapted to be mounted on an external moving part. 3

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1 showing the relationship of the safety attachment with respect to the trip pin.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of a modified form of press, the structure of which requires the application ofthe safety attachment of the present invention, to parts located in the interior of the press.

Figure 4 is a side elevational view of the trip actuating rod and block as altered to embody the invention, and

Figure 5 is a side elevational view of the safety attachment in place on the tumbler rod.

In the drawings, referring first to Figures 1 and 2, except for the critical parts of the press affecting the present invention, the remaining portions thereof are shown through conventional mechanism (not shown) the rod 10 is caused to partake of a rotary oscillation about its axis during the operation of the press for the purpose of actuating the tumbler pins for opening and closing the grippers on the cylinder. The tumbler pins and grippers, which are conventional equipment, are not shown in the drawing, but connecting means 12 and 13 carried at the upper end of the rod 10 are responsible for the operation of these parts upon the rotary oscillation of the rod 10, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. v

Alongside the vertical rod 10, also externally .of the press frame, is a flat vertical trip bar 14, carrying the trip pin 15 which is operatively connected through con ventional means (not shown) to mechanism for automatically tripping the press when a sheet is misfed.

The safety attachment per se of the present invention will best be seen from Fig. 2 and in this particular form, consists of a pusher arm 16, which is preferably made of resilient metal strip, adapted to be clamped at one end to the vertical rod 10 by any, suitable means such as a clamping head 17 including bolts 18. The arm 16 is fixed to the head 17 by screws 19, and extends horizontally from the rod 10 with its free end 16a lying in a horizontal plane for engagement with the trip pin 15 on the trip bar 14. Thus, upon the rotary oscillation of the rod 10 the pusher arm 16 is causedto reciprocate therewith and its end 16a intermittently contacts and pushes in the trip pin 15. It will be understood by those skilled, in the art that during the normal operation of the press, the trip bar 14 is shifted vertically from time to time and it is when this bar is in its uppermost position that the end of the pusher arm 16 is aligned for engagement with the trip pin 15. When the trip bar 14 is lowered, the pin 15'is out offline for engagement by the arm 16 and the latter simply recipro cates idly.

It will be apparent that as soon as the press mechanism Hates the tumbular pins for opening and closing the grippers on the cylinder, is caused to continuously oscillate about it axis. The trip pin 15, lying in the path of movement of the pusher arm 16, is automatically engaged by the latter and pushed inwardly to set the trip mechanism so that it will automatically trip when a sheet is misfed. This, regardless of any attention on the part of the operator, the trip mechanism is automatically set upon 'the initial operation of the printing mechanism.

Furthermore, the arm 16 being resilient, its intermittent engagement with pin causes a minimum of wear on the latter and should the finger of the operator accidentally become interposed between the arm 16 and pin '15, no injury would result.

As previously stated, a second form of printing press of this same general type "is so constructed that it would not be practical to install the safety device of the present invention, externally of the press frame. Figs. 35 of the drawings illustrate the application of the invention to certain internal moving parts of this type of press. It will be noted, however, that the same basic principle of the invention is embodied in both forms.

This press includes in its conventional mechanism, which is only partially shown in the drawings in order not 'to obscure the actual invention, a vertically reciprocating trip rod 20, having the same basic function as the rod 14 in the other form of press. To the upper end of the rod 20 is attached a horizontally projecting block 21, secured in place by suitable bolts 22. The central portion of the block 21 is recessed on its under side as at 23 to accommodate an enlarged abutment 24 carried at the inner end of a rod 25 slidably mounted for horizontal reciprocating movement by the trip button 15a. As will be seen in Fig. 4, the width of the recess 23 is suflicient to permit movement of the abutment 24 into and out of the path of engagement with an underlying trip member 26. Thus, when the abutment 24 is in its extreme retracted position, or to the right in Fig. 4, the vertical reciprocation of the trip rod 20 causes the block 21 to undergo corresponding vertical reciprocation but as the abutment 24 is out of line for engagement with the trip member 26, the latter idly enters the recess 23 on the down stroke of the block 21. However, if the rod 25 is pushed inwardly or to the left, the abutment 24 is shifted into the path of the trip member 26 so that upon the down stroke of the block v21, the trip member 26 is actuated to trip the press when a sheet is misfed. In other words, the function of the button 15a and the rod 25 with its abutment 24, is similar to the trip pin 15 in the previously discussed form of press.

It will, therefore, be understood that with a conventional machine of this type, unless the rod 25 is pushed in, the press mechanism will not be set to automatically trip when a sheet is misfed and here again the human element must be contended with.

In adapting the present invention to this type of printing press, utilization is made of a conventional, internal moving part, namely, the horizontal tumbler rod 30. The mechanism for actuating this rod 30 and the parts operated thereby are unimportant from the standpoint of the invention and are, therefore, not shown. It is sufficient to state simply that the tumbler rod 30 undergoes a longitudinal reciprocation during the normal operation of the printing press.

.The invention utilizes this horizontal movement by attaching a vertical post 31 at a predetermined point intermediate the ends vof the tumbler rod 30, by any suitable means such as a clamp 32, having suitableset screws 33, the post 31 being secured to the clamp by a bolt or screw 34. At its upper end, the post 31 carries a horizontally projecting pusher arm 35, which is secured to the post by means of a clamp 36. In this instance, the pusher arm'may be made of rigid metal as danger of contact with the operators vfingersis not present. 7

In order to effect an operative connection between the end of the pusher arm 35 and the rod 25, the trip rod block 21 is altered by providing a longitudinal slot 37 in one side thereof, through which is adapted to project, a horizontal finger 38, secured intermediate the ends of the rod 25. Thus, the projecting end of the finger 38 normally lies in the path of movement of the pusher arm 35 as the latter is reciprocated by the tumbler rod 30. It will, therefore, be apparent that when the trip rod 20 is in its uppermost position, the projecting finger 38 is engaged by the end of the pusher arm 35 upon each rearward stroke of the tumbler rod 30 so that the trip rod .25 is shifted to present the abutment 24 in line for engagement with the trip member 26, a function normally performed manually by the operator.

In both forms of the invention, advantage is taken of a normally moving conventional part of the printing press, to attach a safety device which automatically depresses the conventional trip pin to set the tripping mechanism so as to automatically trip the press upon the misfeeding of a sheet, thus eliminating reliance upon the human element. The safety attachment may be readily applied to either of the forms of presses above discussed and the only alteration of a conventional part is the provision of a horizontal slot in the trip rod block 21 and the addition of the finger 38 to the trip pin.

From the foregoing it .is believed that the invention may be readily understood by those skilled in the art without further description, it being borne in mind that numerous changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit of the invention as .set forth in the fololwing claims.

I claim:

1. In a printing press of the type including a trip mechanism, a manually operable trip setting pin for conditioning said mechanism to automatically trip the press upon the misfeeding of a sheet, and a part which normally moves back and forth in opposite directions, a safety device for automatically setting said trip pin, said safety device comprising a pusher arm operatively connected to said normally moving part, said arm being rigidly secured at one end to said moving part with its free end lying in line for engagement with a portion of said trip setting pin, whereby, upon the movement of said moving part in one direction, the free end of said pusher arm actuates said pin.

2. An automatic trip pin setting device for the trip mechanism of an automatic printing press having a manu: ally settable trip pin and a normally oscillating part, located in relatively close proximity to said trip pin, said device comprising a pusher arm adapted to be secured at one end to said oscillating part, :the free end of said arm being disposed to reciprocate simultaneously with said part, in a path which intermittently intercepts said trip pin to automatically set the trip mechanism.

3. In an automatic printing press including a trip mechanism for automatically tripping the press upon the misfeeding of a sheet, a normally manually operable trip setting pin and a part which normally oscillates during the operation of the press, located in relatively close proximity to said trip setting pin; an automatic trip setting device comprising a pusher arm fixed at one end to said oscillating part, with its free end adapted to traverse a path which intercepts said pin to intermittently actuate the latter in response to the movement of said oscillating part.

4. In an automatic printingpress including a vertically reciprocating trip rod, operatively connected to the trip mechanism of the press for automatically tripping the press upon the misfeeding of a sheet, a trip member,

a block secured to asid trip rod at its upper end, a trip.

pin mounted in said block for horizontal reciprocation,

an abutment carried by the .inner end of :said trip pin,

selectively movable with the latter into and out of a vertical ,path which intercepts the press trip member,

a normally horizontally reciprocating tumbler rod in said press, spaced laterally from said trip rod; an automatic trip setting device comprising a mounting post fixed to and projecting vertically from said tumbler rod, a laterally projecting pusher arm fixed at one end to said post with its free end projecting into relatively close proximity to said block, a horizontal slot in one side of said block, and a contact finger fixed to said trip pin and projecting through said slot, said contact finger lying in the path of movement of the free end of said pusher arm upon the reciprocation of said tumbler rod.

5. In an automatic printing press, including a trip mechanism for automatically tripping the press upon the misfeeding of a sheet, a normally manually operable trip setting pin, a vertical rod mounted externally of the press in relatively close proximity to said trip pin and operatively connected to the tumbler pins and grippers of the press, said vertical rod normally undergoing a rotary oscillation about its axis; an automatic trip setting device comprising a pusher arm fixed at one end to said vertical rod intermediate the ends of the latter and in a plane which intercepts said trip pin, the free end of said arm being intermittently engageable with said trip pin upon the oscillation of said rod.

6. A device as claimed in claim 5, wherein said pusher arm is formed of a resilient metal strip.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 699,913 Dexter May 13, 1902 784,479 Dexter Mar. 7, 1905 2,578,700 Harrold et al Dec. 18, 1951 

